The Power of Parkland: Is Laura Ingraham Only the Beginning?

In the aftermath of the March for Our Lives, several student activists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., are embracing the national spotlight shone on their movement.

They are also utilizing their influence to strike back against their detractors and government officials that oppose their goal of increased gun control.

One of the first major personalities that discovered the influence of the Parkland students is conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham.

A pro-gun rights advocate, Ingraham took to Twitter to share that David Hogg, one of MSD’s most prominent activists, was rejected by four colleges. She then questioned his intellect by suggesting he couldn’t have come up with the line “get your resumes ready” from his March for Our Lives speech.

David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it. (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA…totally predictable given acceptance rates.) https://t.co/wflA4hWHXY

Hogg responded to Ingraham’s attacks with a tweet of his own, listing the top advertisers for Ingraham’s Fox News show, “The Ingraham Angle,” and encouraging his followers to boycott these companies until they pulled their ads from airing during her block.

After seven companies — including five of the 12 Hogg listed — pulled their ads from Ingraham’s airtime, she offered her apologies for the insults she lobbed toward Hogg.

Any student should be proud of a 4.2 GPA —incl. @DavidHogg111. On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland. For the record, I believe my show was the first to feature David…(1/2)

However, he rejected the apology, responding by saying of Ingraham, “A bully is a bully.”

She has since announced she will be off the air this week, further demonstrating the influence that Hogg and Parkland have had on her show.

The waves that the Parkland students have made are undeniable. A group of high school students — let alone school shooting survivors — led companies to pull commercials from a cable news show and drive a show’s host off-air is a testimony to the strength of social media in the new media age.

Parkland survivors have continued calling out politicians that receive support from the NRA and others that have expressed no interest in reforming gun laws in the United States. Their efforts have led to the scheduling of dozens of Town Hall for Our Lives events across the country.

After the March for Our Lives, it’s unclear what the Parkland students’ next steps would be. Ingraham may have been the first person to receive the full brunt of their influence, but it seems almost certain that she won’t be the last.

How these students wield and levy their newfound authority moving forward will be worth monitoring–especially for media personalities and politicians that may be at risk in upcoming midterm elections.

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Alec Snyder is a senior at The George Washington University majoring in journalism and mass communication and minoring in theatre. Although he hopes to go into broadcast reporting, he has continually maintained an interest in writing and investigative reporting. Previously, he has written for Bleacher Report and WRGW Radio News, where he also anchored and produced. Currently, you can find him on-air reporting for GW-TV. He serves as an intern for the CBS Evening News in Washington and previously interned with both the CBS News Investigative Unit and the "7 on Your Side" Investigative Unit at WJLA-TV. Follow Alec on Twitter @alec_snyder62.